Music System

Denon's HEOS streaming home audio range is getting two new pieces, with the multi room system adding new ways to easily hook up existing speakers. The HEOS Link and HEOS Amp join Denon's Sonos rival, for those who already have their choice of receiver speakers but still want to add wireless streaming to them.

iPad and iPhone apps like GarageBand may turn Apple's tablets and phones into portable recording studio, but you probably need a better microphone than the one built-in. IK Multimedia showed off its iRig Mic HD back at CES, resembling a regular condenser microphone but plugging straight into the Lightning port.

A team of former Google employees are taking on Sonos with a new music streamer, aiming to do for whole-home media playback what Google's own Chromecast did for easy video access. Beep is up for preorder now, a stylized volume knob that's actually a touch-sensitive control, and which funnels music over your WiFi network to whichever speakers you plug in. Then, using Beep's control apps for iOS and Android, users can pipe audio from Pandora and their phone or tablet.

Sonos' upcoming - and currently unannounced - Play:1 speaker, the $199.99 entry-level model to the streaming media range, has been caught on sale early. A Target shopper flagged up the prematurely stocked speaker to The Verge, having spotted it in their local store already on the shelves in black and white.

Philips has revealed its latest iPhone speaker dock, the Philips DS8400, offering both Lightning and Bluetooth connectivity for the terminally indecisive. The new dock, which has an internal battery for standalone use, can dock with an iPhone or stream music from any Bluetooth A2DP-compliant phone, PMP, tablet, or other gadget.

Ferrari by Logic3 has just launched its new speaker dock, the Scuderia FS1 Air. The Scuderia FS1 Air comes equipped with Airplay, so you can stream music wirelessly from your iOS devices, or from iTunes. The 2.1 speaker system is Bluetooth capable as well, so if you don't have an iOS device, you can still wirelessly stream music straight from your Android device, Windows Phone 8 device, or Blackberry 10 device.

Whole-home streaming audio has a new upstart in the shape of Olive ONE, a touchscreen-blessed Sonos rival aiming to funnel all of your music sources - whether local or cloud-based like Spotify - into a single network. A round console for your coffee table or wall, the Olive ONE works as a wireless HD docking station with audiophile-level DAC and amps, optional internal storage, and a brace of streaming options. However, you can't go out and buy one today; the Olive team has turned to IndieGoGo to fund its ambitious plans.

Maserati and high-end speaker manufacturer Bowers & Wilkins have announced a deal to fit top-spec audio equipment in the Italian marque's cars, and they've celebrated the news with a bizarre new piece of music. The collaboration will see a new audio system developed especially for Maserati cars, hitting options lists sometime in 2013, as well as a range of home audio kit bearing the Maserati brand.

"Music," the wise Madonna once sang, "makes the people come together," and although it may look like the tail-end of a Pagani Zonda, the Philips FWP3200D DJ-Dock attempts to do just that. A combination speaker system and dual-deck docking station, the DJ-Dock takes two iPhones or iPods in its rotatable bays - which can be swiveled for either a user standing behind, or positioned for communal control at a party - and includes integrated lighting effects.

I'm going to go right ahead and assume that most of the people checking out this review are here because they're confused about why SlashGear would review a vinyl record player. I think that's fair to wonder. There are two reasons, the first of which is the fact that this record player not only has audio input via a convenient little smartphone dock. The second is this: I've still got a massive stack of records that I want to play, and I'm certain that there's a massive population of readers out there that have their own, too - you don't just throw those things away!